"No sooner had we shoved off than the craft began to leak badly, but bailing with frond cups and rowing with weed-woven oars, and with Kelek cursing at the top of his lungs in Chakur, we paddled our sinking, shark-skinned, whale-boned boat below the bird cliffs and 'round the headland only to find Aravan's great ship, the swift Eroean, anchored in the small inlet on the southern end of the isle."
Loric burst into gales of laughter, Tipperton joining in. Bekki looked at them for some moments, and then burst into laughter as well. Riding in the lead, Prince Loden looked over his shoulder, and Tain at his side put his fingers to his lips in a shushing motion and snapped, "Do you want to bring the Spawn down on us? They can hear you all the way to Mineholt North."
This only caused Bekki to laugh all the harder, Loric and Tipperton as well.
It was some time ere they got control of themselves, and even then they broke out into suppressed chortles.
"So the boat did you absolutely no good, eh?" asked Tip after a while.
"Oh, no, to the contrary, Tipperton, it did us a wealth of good: not only did it keep us busy for a year or so, it also proved to be quite profitable, for when Aravan hauled us aboard, 'Nahvalr ivory,' he said upon seeing the necklace Kelek had made of the teeth. 'Have you the tusk as well?' And when we showed it to him, he marveled at its length and perfection, and told us the horn and the remainder of the ivory would bring a small fortune in the city of Jan-jong, there on the Jinga Sea, his next port of call, it seems.
"And so, rather than rowing across the Bright Sea in a leaky, sinking boat, we sailed with Aravan and his forty men and forty Dwarves, the crew of the Eroean.
"In Janjong, Kelek signed on with Aravan as a member of the Drimmen warband, but I went my separate way. In the succeeding seasons he rose to be second in command, I believe."
"Did you ever see him again?"
Loric sighed. "Nay. He remained with Aravan and sailed on the Eroean's last voyage. It was in the time of the destruction of Rwn, and Kelek acquitted himself most honorably in the final battle, though he did not survive to reach his beloved Red Hills again. There at the place of his death, they set a great pyre burning, and he and his other fallen comrades were sung up to the sky."
They rode onward in silence, the laughter of moments before lost on the swirling wind.
Gradually the land turned to stone, and crags jutted up all 'round. And they came to an opening between two bluffs, and here Loden signed for all to stop and he whistled as would a meadow lark; there came a call in return, and Loden spurred forward, the others following, and they rode through a short canyon to emerge on a wide slope. Up the slope Loden led them, and they came to a broad plateau ringed 'round by mountains, where they found the seven hundred armed and armored Daelsmen ensconced in a fire-less camp.
Near midmorn, as he fared in the vanguard, Beau saw three riders approaching from the north. And as they drew nigh, he could see that one was Vail, one was Arylin, and the other someone unknown.
With his heart thudding, "Oh, my," he said to Melor at hand, "Tip's not with her and neither is Loric. What do you suppose has gone wrong?"
"Mayhap nought," said Melor.
"Mayhap everything," replied Beau, his knuckles white 'gainst the reins, and he turned to make certain his medical satchel was affixed to his rear cantle.
And Melor said, "Seek not to see through muddy waters, my friend, but wait until the bourne runs clear."
"What?"
"I merely advise that we not-"
"Oh, I see," said Beau. "As my Aunt Rose always said, 'a bridge is easiest trod when underfoot.' "
Melor smiled. "Aye."
Beau shaded his eyes with a hand and peered northward at the three oncoming riders. "Can't their horses go any faster?"
Again Melor smiled, but worry brooded deep within his gaze as well.
Vail swung out wide and 'round, the others following, until all paced alongside Ruar. "My Coron, may I present Lord Brandt, son of King Enrik of Riamon, and emissary of his brother, Lord Loden, Prince of Dael." Now she turned to the man. "Lord Brandt, I present Coron Ruar of Darda Erynian. Too, I present Lord Gara, Chieftain of the Baeron of" the Great Greenhall."
Beau looked at the youth dressed in light chain, a sword at his side, his coppery hair cut short.
"We bring good news, my Coron," continued Vail. "Thirty-five score warriors of Dael wait to join us to free Mineholt North."
Beau's eyes widened. Thirty-five score? Seven hundred men? Oh, my, that is good news indeed. And here I thought something gone wrong-Tip lying wounded or worse.
"Kala!" declared Ruar, his face breaking into a smile. "And welcome, Lord Brandt, son of Enrik, the help you bring most welcome as well."
Loric and Tipperton spent the remainder of the morning telling what news they held, and of Tipperton's mission to King Agron, and Loden and Bekki traded their news in return:
The Foul Folk, it seemed, had come into the ring of the Rimmen Mountains through the wide breech at Bridgeton, there on the southeastern quadrant of the circular mountain range.
Loden glanced over at Tip and Loric. "Though they bypassed Bridgeton, 'tis apparent now by your account that some marched on to Rimmen Gape, where they razed Brae-ton, while others came to set siege to Mineholt North."
"What of the town of Dael, did they do no harm there?"
Loden shook his head. "They marched right past, as if it held no interest whatsoever."
Loric frowned. "Hmm. 'Tis not like Modru to leave such in his wake. Something foul is afoot, I ween. Mayhap he hopes to draw ye out of the town, and when it lies defenseless, then he will strike."
Again Loden shook his head. "My sire and other brothers yet command an army within that walled city. It is well protected."
"What of Trolls?"
"Flames await them should they come. Caltrops too."
Loric nodded. Oil fires was one defense against the behemoths. The spikes another.
"Say," said Tip, looking at his sheaves of hand-drawn maps, "if they came through at Bridgeton, that means they came into the ring from the east."
"Aye," said Loric. "They would not approach from the west, for there Darda Erynian lies, and they think it a bane."
"No, no, that's not what I was getting at, Loric. Instead it is this: if they came down from the Grimwall and in from the east, that means they swarmed through Aven."
Bekki turned up a hand. "And…?"
Tip let out an exasperated breath. "Oh, Bekki, it's Dendor in Aven where I am bound, and if it's full of maggot-folk…"
Bekki leaned over and touched a finger to Tipperton's sketch. "They could have come from the Skarpal Mountains instead-east and south of the ring."
"Adon," growled Tipperton, "down from the north or up from the south, how are we to know?"
Tip looked across at Loric and Loden, and Elf and man both shrugged, but Bekki said, "Waldan, you will discover whether or not the Grg are in Aven when you finally go there to deliver the coin."
"But there's nothing that way except mountains," said Arylin.
"Not so, my Lady," replied Brandt. "Beyond that craggy uplift is a passage through, one the wagons can manage. And though we will swing back nigh a league, it will save half a day overall."
Arylin glanced at Vail and then Ruar, but it was Gara who said, "Lead on, Lord Brandt. The wagons will follow you." Gara turned to a Baeran at hand. "Durul, ride back to the train and tell Wagonleader Bwen we follow this man."
Durul shook his head and grinned. "Oh, but won't we learn new words from Bwen, words hot enough to blister a hide when she discovers we need curl back a league to reach this passage."